WGBH partners with mobile app to connect with supporters

WGBH in Boston is the first public media station to partner with LetsAllDoGood, a mobile app for connecting nonprofits to their supporters and communities via smartphones.

After launching last month, the app is available to organizations in New England, and its Boston-based creators plan to expand it nationally. More than two dozen Boston-area organizations have signed up, including United Way of Massachusetts Bay and Merrimack Valley, Franklin Park Zoo and the Essex County Community Foundation.

WGBH’s LetsAllDoGood page

The app’s audience is people who want to engage with nonprofits through events and volunteer opportunities, said Teri Lamitie, senior director of digital services at WGBH.

The app’s premise is that as more people are inundated with email, nonprofits are seeing open and click-through rates on their emails decline. In addition, organizations that don’t pay for promoted posts on social media platforms like Facebook and Twitter suffer from low visibility.

LetsAllDoGood will help WGBH reach its core givers, women who live on their smartphones, said app founder Greg McHale.

Users can follow organizations that have signed up with the app. Its opening screen lists updates including events, volunteer opportunities and news. WGBH expects to share stories about its do-gooder work and hopes the app will relieve the pressure on selling event tickets via email.

“It’s a chance to grab a little more mindshare,” said Mike Strassman, WGBH digital campaign manager.

Since moving out of beta last month, WGBH has accrued 167 active followers, The app has been downloaded more than 500 times. Sixty percent of users have opted for push notifications.

That rate “means the supporters are getting and engaging with the content,” said McHale, who also founded the predecessor to Bidding For Good, a charitable e-commerce organization with an online auction platform for fundraising events that previously worked with WGBH.

Promoting LetsAllDoGood falls on partners like WGBH, which will promote the app at events and through email and social media. Lamitie doesn’t expect to promote it on air, although it could be mentioned in spots promoting volunteer activities.

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